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 None other than a woman understands the awkwardness of walking up to a wine shop counter to buy her favourite tipple. Home delivery of alcohol has worked as a convenient option for people in metros like Mumbai, Delhi and other cities but the new format of liquor retailing which gives the buyer the choice to take a tour of the shop and pick up the brands that he/she wants to buy is slowly and steadily revolutionizing the buying habits of discerning Indian drinkers, a big chunk of which are women.
FineWinesnMore recently launched a new swanky Tasting Room and a Retail shop called Fine Wine & Beer Boutique in Laxmi Industrial Estate, Andheri (W) Mumbai. The store selling all the fine wines from within and outside the company's portfolio and artisan beer brands from across the globe, holds two separate licenses.
Presently the shop has 80 labels with the majority being imported with a complimentary selection of what FWM considers to be the best from India. As per the excise rules of Maharashtra, it has both a retail license for the wine and beer boutique and a daily license for the tasting room.
 Craig Wedge, COO, FineWinesnMore and the man behind this project was ecstatic when he hosted the first tasting of Champagne Besserat de Bellefon in the Tasting room. With a seating capacity of around 15-18 people and a long wooden table in the centre, the room is spacious enough to accommodate a projector, some wine accessories and a few display items.
The champagnes were served in standard tasting glasses instead of flute glasses, bringing into the foreground the ongoing debate that champagne should be served in normal wine glasses. Nevertheless, the champagnes performed just the way they were expected to. The Brut blanc de blanc, Brut Rose, and Extra Brut were the highlight of the tasting. Sujata Patil, the wine consultant who had organized this tasting, introduced Godefroy Baijot, Export Manager- Besserat de Bellefon to the wine writers and hospitality professionals.
The design of the outlet is quirky, the walls adorn paintings and photographs that are modern and abstract, some of them depicting the various seasons and life cycle of a vine.
The tasting room is designed to accommodate a maximum of 18 people in an environment conducive to learning about wine. Whilst an architect set the technical dimension, all the interior designs and feels come from Craig. He says that essentially the design is an amalgamation of all the tasting rooms he has been in his wine travels, and to that end the design purposely reflects both a communal element and cellar feel. He wanted to remove all the stuffiness and intimidation that wine sometimes portrays and instead create a space that customers can instantly relax in.
 Not revealing the exact amount of investment incurred on this project, Craig comments, "It is certainly a big amount. But we believe that we must push our barrow forward regardless in order to develop a broad market platform. Being an importer, distributor and now retailer makes sense in the greater scheme of this market penetration. So the cost is outweighed by the long term potential of our new business model."
Only about 50% of the brands sold here are FWM's imported brands. The rest are chosen from a small selection of other suppliers. It has the stable of domestic beers with as many imported and artisan beers as are available in the current market.
A few years back, the retailer Juben Wines had taken the initiative to open Juben Wine Cellar and Tasting room in a shopping mall in Juhu, Mumbai which for some reason wasn't that successful. However, it is exciting that more and more interest is being drawn towards the need for such format of wine and alcohol retailing which also offers the buyer a wholesome experience.
Rojita Tiwari
 Rojita Tiwari is the Former Associate Editor of Ambrosia magazine and currently writes for Ambrosia, delWine, The Wine Club and several other wine and spirits platforms. She is a journalist with more than a decade long experience with several publications and an authority of all drinks heady. She is a WSET professional, writer/critic for Wine, Beer, Spirits, Travel & Hospitality. Contact her on rojitapadhy@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @rojitatiwari
Tags: Fine Wine & Beer Boutique, FineWinesnMore, Craig Wedge |